CLU Podcast FAQ

Podcasting is a web-based broadcast medium. Audio files (most commonly in MP3 format) are made available online in a way that allows software to automatically detect the availability of new files (generally via RSS), and download the files for listening at your convenience.

Podcasts are usually a series of "episodes" that are posted at regular intervals (daily, weekly, monthy, etc.). Once downloaded, podcast files can be copied to any mobile MP3 player, such as an iPod or Zune.

Step one is to download your favorite podcast software. We highly recommend Apple's iTunes application to subscribe to and manage podcasts. Google Reader is another popular application.

Next, learn how to subscribe to a podcast. Read the iTunes Podcast FAQ. As an example, see the CLU Chapel Podcast page. You can click the iTunes, Google or Yahoo buttons to subscribe to the podcast in those applications. For other uses, click the RSS icon at the top of your browser to view the RSS feed. You can copy the URL address of the feed and paste it in the application of your choice.

Depending on whom you ask, the acronym RSS stands for "Really Simple Syndication," "Rich Site Summary" or any of a handful of others.

The meaning of the acronym is not terribly important, however.
An RSS feed (also known as a news feed) is a site’s syndicated news or podcast feed that you subscribe to using your news reader or podcast player.